RWE has begun construction of one of Germany’s largest battery storage facilities at its power plant locations in Neurath and Hamm in Rhine-Westphalia.
The facility will have a capacity of 220MW and storage capacity of 235MWh. A total of 690 lithium-ion battery blocks will be installed at the site, involving an investment of approximately €140m.
“As the proportion of renewables in the electricity mix increases, so does the need for flexible battery storage systems,” said RWE Generation chief executive Roger Miesen.
“They balance out fluctuations in the electricity grid in seconds, which means they are the key to a reliable electricity supply. In terms of size and technology, the new large-scale battery storage facility in Neurath and Hamm is setting standards throughout Europe.”
Member of the board of RWE Power Lars Kulik said: “With this battery storage facility, RWE is providing a major boost to structural transformation in North Rhine-Westphalia. By making practical use of the existing locations and grid connections, we are making the traditional power plant sites of Hamm and Neurath important partners for renewables.”
The BESS is scheduled to supply balancing energy to stabilise the electricity grid from second half of 2024. This will entail the plant taking excess power from the electricity grid and feeding it back into the system when required. The battery storage facility will also be deployed on the wholesale market. Electricity will be taken into the storage system if electricity prices are low, and conversely will be fed out when prices are high.
The planned battery storage facility can operate at its maximum capacity of 220MW for over an hour. That is enough to charge the equivalent of about 4,000EVs. The facility will also be virtually networked with RWE power stations in Germany, which will make it possible to control whether the storage units work alone or in conjunction with other power stations to supply balancing energy. The new battery storage facility thus optimises the use of RWE’s German power station portfolio across a range of technologies.
In Neurath, batteries with a total capacity of 80MW (84MWh) will be installed on an area of around 7,500 square metres, while a total capacity of 140MW (151 MWh) will be installed at Hamm-Uentrop, covering an area of 14,000 square metres.